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HIV/AIDS
Mr. Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he plans to take in response to the recent joint United Nations and World Health Organisation report on HIV; and what representations he plans to make to those countries which have seen the greatest recent (a) increase and (b) decrease in cases of HIV. [104399]
Mr. Thomas: The recent UNAIDS/WHO AIDS epidemic update report (December 2006) describes the challenge that we face in reversing the spread ofHIV. Some 39.5 million people are living with HIV,4.3 million were newly infected and 2.9 million people died from AIDS in 2006. There is evidence of declines in HIV prevalence in some countries in sub-Saharan Africa, but of marked increases in HIV prevalence in East and Central Asia, and in Eastern Europe.
The difference in prevalence trends within countries and regions underlines the importance of supporting
country-specific responses to HIV. This is why DFID works closely with national Governments and with multilateral and bilateral partners to support country-led HIV responses. For example, in Zimbabwe, where prevalence rates have fallen, DFID has recently committed £20 million over four years to broaden the delivery of HIV treatment services to currently unserved areas, and a further £25 million over five years to keep up prevention efforts, including to increase access to family planning services. In the Ukraine, where annual HIV diagnoses have more than doubled since 2000, and where the epidemic is concentrated primarily in most-at-risk populations, DFID is implementing projects that focus on men who have sex with men and assist in the national implementation of harm reduction interventions for injecting drug users.
We will continue to work to support the prioritiesset out by countries, within the context of a comprehensive response to AIDS, as set out in “Taking Action: the UK's strategy for tackling HIV and AIDS in the developing world”. This commits £1.5 billion between 2005 and 2008 to support AIDS-related activities, of which £150 million will be used to meet the needs of children affected by AIDS. We also continue to work towards achieving the target of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010.
Mr. Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the (a) availability of and (b) access to(i) Kaletra and (ii) Viread in (A) sub-Saharan Africa, (B) Central Asia and (C) Latin America; and if he will make a statement. [106054]
Mr. Thomas: Access to the antiretroviralmedications “Kaletra” (lopinavir/ritonavir) and “Viread” (tenofovir) continues to be restricted even though both products are recommended in the World Health Organisation’s 2006 guidelines on adult antiretroviral treatment in resource-limited settings.
A heat stable version of “Kaletra”, branded as “Aluvia” to prevent product diversion, awaits registration in sub-Saharan African countries. “Aluvia” was licensed in the European Union this year. The manufacturer (Abbott) has stated that EU approval is required before the drug can be registered by regulatory agencies in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Aluvia” will be offered at $500 a year in Africa and other least-developed countries and at $2,200 in central Asia, Ukraine, India, Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and China. It will also be offered at $2,200 in Central and Latin America (excluding Argentina, Costa Rica, Chile, Panama, Uruguay and Venezuela). No Caribbean country apart from Jamaica is currently eligible for a discounted price.
“Aluvia” has also been submitted for registration in South Africa. The registration status of “Aluvia” in least-developed countries remains unclear, although the manufacturer states that licence applications have been made in an unspecified number of countries.
According to the World Health Organisation, “Kaletra” was registered in 49 of the 114 countries eligible for discounted prices in October 2006.
Delays in registration and a lack of capacity on the part of the manufacturer have restricted the availability of “Viread” in all regions. A licensing applicationfor “Viread” was submitted to the South African Medicines Control Council by its manufacturer Gilead Sciences in November 2005. “Viread” was registered in only 13 of the 97 countries designated as eligible by Gilead in June 2006.
Gilead has now concluded voluntary licensing agreements with five Indian manufacturers that will allow the drug to be produced at lower prices and exported to sub-Saharan Africa and other least- developed countries (including all central Asian states except Kazakhstan) and to the Caribbean and Central America (excluding El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama), and to Guyana, Surinam and Bolivia in Latin America. The current price set for these countries is $200 a year.
The Department for International Development will continue to work with the pharmaceutical industry to
achieve greater transparency in pricing and greater standardisation of pricing offers to low and middle-income countries. Where products are not patented or registered by the patent holder, there is no obstacle to the registration of generic versions of those products, and import of such generic versions does not require the importing Government to issue a compulsory licence.
Latin America
John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much aid was given to countries in Latin America in each year since 2000, broken down by country. [106111]
Mr. Thomas: DFID bilateral aid for Latin America since 2000-01 is shown in the table:
| £ | ||||||
| Destination name | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 |
This information, as well as details of aid from other UK official sources, is available in Table 12.2 of the Statistics on International Development (SID) report. SID can be accessed under the publications section of the DFID website.
In addition to bilateral aid, the UK makes contributions to the EC, the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. Multilateral shares are reported by calendar year, and the latest information available is for 2004. A breakdown of the UK’s contributions by country are given as follows.
| £ million | |||||
| 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | |
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